LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 

SEP  2  1  2004 

> 

1 

BX6333.A44  M56  1907 

Aked,  Charles  Frederic, 

1864-1941. 

Ministry  of  reconciliation. 


A    MINISTRY   of 
RECONCILIATION 


l!BRARY  OF  PRIf'^CETON 

r —' 

SEP2I  20W 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMIMARY 


In  Press 

THE   COURAGE  OF 
THE   COWARD 

AND  OTHER  SERMONS 

By  the 
REV.  CHARLES  F.  AKED 


In     an    attractive    volume, 
chaste  cloth,  izmo;  ^1.25,  net. 


Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 


A    MINISTRY    of 
RECONCILIATION 

CHARLES   F.    AKED,  D.D. 

of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Baptist  Church 

New  York 


New  York         Chicago         Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London       and       Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1907,  by, 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York  :  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago  :  80  Wabash  Avenue 
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"And  gave  unto  us  the  Ministry  of  Recon- 
ciliation."    2  Corinthians,  5.  18. 

A  MINISTRY  of  Reconciliation!  The 
idea  is  five  times  repeated  in  two  com- 
plete sentences.  A  Ministry  of  Reconciliation 
committed  unto  us.  And  the  dynamic  of  such 
a  ministry  is  in  this  word,  that  God  was  In 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself. 
We  are  ambassadors,  therefore,  on  behalf  of 
Christ,  as  though  God  were  entreating  by  us. 
And  we  beseech  you,  on  behalf  of  Christ,  Be 
ye  reconciled  to  God. 

Herein  is  the  meaning  of  the  Incarnation 
and  the  purpose  of  the  Atonement.  God  is  in 
Christ  reconciling  His  children  unto  Himself. 
Men  have  been  alienated  from  God.  The  un- 
thoughtful  have  stood  in  terror  of  Him.  The 
thoughtful  have  hated  Him.  And  this  they 
3 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

have  done  because  they  have  misconceived 
Him  utterly.  He  has  been  slandered  to  them. 
Yet  they  do  but  need  to  know  Him  as  He  is 
and  for  what  He  is  to  love  Him  as  a  parent 
and  serve  Him  as  a  King.  The  only  begotten 
Son  who  was  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  He 
hath  declared  Him.  He  has  declared  Him  by 
His  first,  best  name  of  Love.  He  is  not  the 
pitiless  tyrant  of  men  whom  the  heathen  saw 
when  they  looked  into  the  magic  mirror  of  the 
unknowable,  beheld  an  exaggerated  and  dis- 
torted image  of  themselves,  and  called  it  God. 
He  is  the  loving  Father  of  us  all.  And  though 
His  children  are  estranged  from  Him  and 
know  not  that  they  are  His,  He  is  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself,  and 
bringing  His  dear  ones  Home. 

This  Ministry  of  Reconciliation  is  entrusted 
to  us.  This  is  what  Churches  are  for.  For 
this  preachers  live.  Churches  are  maintained 
and  preachers  exist  to  remind  you  of  the  eter- 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

nal  laws  you  must  obey,  and  the  eternal  love 
in  which  you  may  rest.  And  the  Ministry  of 
Reconciliation  does  not  end,  it  begins,  when 
by  conversion  and  avowal  of  faith  in  Christ 
the  individual  soul  takes  its  first  step  back  to 
God.  For  this  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  like 
all  the  epistles  of  the  New  Testament,  is  ad- 
dressed to  members  of  the  Church,  men  and 
women  who  have  been  redeemed  from  their 
sins,  born  again  by  the  Spirit,  baptised  into 
Christ,  and  united  with  the  fellowship  of  the 
Church  of  God.  The  plea  is  to  them  and  to 
us:  As  ambassadors  on  behalf  of  Christ,  as 
though  God  were  entreating  by  us,  we  beseech 
you.  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God. 

Today*  I  enter  upon  my  ministry  to  your 
great  Church,  and,  if  it  be  the  will  of  God, 
upon  a  larger  ministry  in  the  city  and  in  the 
nation.  Henceforth  I  occupy  as  pastor — 
your  servant  for  Christ's  sake — a  pulpit  con- 
secrated by  the  genius  of  Dr.  Armitage  and 

*  Sunday,  April  21, 1907  e 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

the  lofty  devotion  of  those  who  are  still 
leaders  of  the  Church  on  earth.  With  what 
shrinking  of  the  spirit,  with  what  realization 
of  incompetence,  incompleteness,  and  personal 
unworthiness,  with  what  feeling  of  oppressive 
and  unutterable  responsibility  I  take  up  this 
burden,  I  dare  not  tell.  These  things  are  not 
for  public  speech.  Brethren,  I  throw  myself 
upon  your  forbearance,  your  patience,  your 
kindness,  your  generous  faith,  and  I  trust 
myself  to  God.  I  ask  that  He  will  give  me 
strength,  and  give  it  through  the  medium  of 
good  men  and  good  women  who  will  believe 
in  me  and  help  me  for  His  name's  sake.  I  have 
come  in  the  honest  belief  that  the  best  work  of 
my  life  is  to  be  done  in  your  land.  I  have 
come  believing  that  I  can  serve  our  Lord  best 
by  joining  you  in  the  effort  to  get  God's  will 
done  here,  in  the  broad  fields  of  your  national 
life,  even  as  it  is  done  in  Heaven.  I  have 
come  in  the  hope  of  discharging  a  Ministry 
of  Reconciliation.     Before  I  accepted  your 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

call  I  determined  that  if  I  came  it  would  be 
for  this  purpose,  that  if  I  ever  spoke  to  you  as 
your  chosen  pastor  it  would  be  first  from  this 
text  in  elucidation,  at  least  in  outline-sketch, 
of  a  Ministry  of  Reconciliation.  For  more 
than  sixteen  years  I  have  preached  to  the 
largest  Protestant  congregation  in  the  second 
city  of  the  British  Empire.  On  the  morning 
when  I  laid  down  the  pastorate  of  that  Church 
I  preached  from  this  text,  calling  the  Church 
and  the  City  to  witness  that  mine  had  been  a 
Ministry  of  Reconciliation.  And  this  morn- 
ing I  declare  to  you  that  in  this  spirit  I  wish 
to  hve  my  life  amongst  you,  In  this  spirit  to 
conceive  every  enterprise,  cherish  every  am- 
bition, preach  every  sermon,  and  breathe  out 
every  prayer  before  the  throne  of  God. 

Well,  now,  I  Invite  you  to  discuss  with  me 
some  of  the  things  involved  in  a  Ministry  of 
Reconciliation.  Such  a  ministry  has  an  eter- 
nal significance,  and  about  this  none  of  us, 

7 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

if  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  in  us,  need  fear  mis- 
understanding or  mistake.  But  it  must  also 
be  conditioned  by  the  necessities  of  the  day 
and  hour,  by  needs  of  place  and  circumstance. 
New  ages  produce  new  men.  New  men  ask 
new  questions,  and  are  themselves  driven  to 
the  solution  of  new  problems.  Here  mistake 
is  easy — ^lamentably  easy  for  one  coming,  like 
myself,  out  of  an  old  world  into  a  new.  I  dare 
not  dogmatise.  You  must  let  me  feel  my  way. 
A  dear,  dead  friend  of  mine,  a  Monseigneur 
of  the  Roman  Church,  when  I  told  him  that, 
according  to  the  dogmas  of  his  own  creed,  I 
was  on  the  road  to  the  wrong  place,  assured 
me  that  he  took  a  far  more  hopeful  view  of 
my  fate  than  that.  He  was  of  opinion  that  I 
should  be  saved  by  my  invincible  ignorance. 
I  recognise,  with  Bishop  Butler,  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  our  ignorance  may  be  of  value  to  us ; 
and  I  hope  that  the  lingering  sense  of  humor 
which  has  been  granted  even  to  an  English- 
man will  avail  to  save  me  from  posing  as  an 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

authority  on  things  I  know  nothing  about. 
But  you  are  sensible  people.  You  will  see  that 
I  am  trying  to  master  the  conditions  of  the 
life  which  is  to  be  mine.  And  if  you  smile  at 
my  mistakes,  it  will  not  be  in  malice  but  in 
good  nature. 

And  so  I  conceive  that  the  Ministry  of  Re- 
conciliation must  embrace  the  Reconciliation 
of  Christians  with  one  another.  The  Saviour's 
prayer  stands:  "That  they  all  may  be  one"; 
but  it  stands  as  a  mockery.  This  prayer  does 
not  demand  for  its  fulfillment  uniformity  of 
worship,  identity  of  creed,  nor  a  single  or- 
ganisation. But  it  does  demand  one  spirit, 
and  that  the  spirit  of  Brotherhood.  The 
prayer  will  not  be  realised  until  we  are  one  in 
Faith,  though  not  in  doctrine;  one  in  Hope, 
though  not  in  method  of  working ;  and  always 
and  everywhere  one  in  love  of  God  and  Man. 
What  are  the  possibilities  in  this  country  of 

approximation  towards  the  Saviour's  ideal  I 
9 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

have  yet  to  learn.  This  I  know:  that  while 
religions  are  many,  Religion  is  one.  I  cannot 
join  a  narrow  Church.  I  belong  to  the  Church 
of  all  good  men  and  good  women  everywhere. 
It  is  now  as  wide  as  all  human  life  and  deep 
as  all  human  need.  One  day  it  will  be  as  all- 
embracing  as  the  Father's  love.  And  its  prog- 
ress to-day  and  in  the  coming  days  rests  on 
a  growing  appreciation  of  forms  of  goodness 
different  from  one's  own.  We  have  no  need 
to  minimise  the  differences  which  separate 
Church  from  Church  and  denomination  from 
denomination.  A  condition  of  union  is  that 
you  shall  be  worth  uniting  with.  It  is  more 
conviction  that  we  need  and  not  less.  We 
ought  to  hold  with  energy  and  tenacity  the 
truths  we  know  to  be  true.  And  we  do  no 
honour  to  the  Spirit  of  Unity,  while  we  dis- 
honour ourselves,  by  a  foolish  complaisance 
which  pretends  that  conscientious  differences 
are  of  no  account.  Without  sacrifice  of  con- 
viction we  are  everyday  discovering  that  the 

10 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

things  wherein  we  already  stand  agreed  are 
more  in  number,  greater  in  importance,  and 
eternally  more  fruitful  than  those  which  di- 
vide us.  As  to  these  which  are  distinctive  and 
peculiar,  they  exist  for  good  and  not  for  evil. 
They  forbid  us  to  proselytise.  We  do  not  want 
to  turn  Methodists  into  Baptists  nor  Con- 
gregationalists  into  Presbyterians.  Everyone 
of  the  great  historic  denominations  has  had 
entrusted  to  it  either  its  own  special  truth,  or 
else  its  own  special  way  of  holding  and  pre- 
senting truth,  which  fastens  upon  it  the  obli- 
gation to  go  on  living  and  working  until  that 
truth  is  absorbed  by  the  whole  Church  of  God. 
Uniformity,  therefore,  is  not  to  be  sought. 
It  would  be  antagonistic  to  the  American 
spirit,  which  loves  nothing  better  than  the  free 
play  of  individual  forces.  Federation,  in  this 
land  of  vast  federations,  ought  to  be  possible. 
And  deeper  than  Federation,  the  spirit  of 
brotherhood,  mutual  admiration  of  character, 

mutual  gratitude  for  services  rendered  to  the 
II 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

commonwealth,  mutual  love  in  bonds  of  peace, 
produced  by  fellowship  in  one  Gospel  and  con- 
secration to  one  Lord.  I  hope,  in  due  time, 
to  take  my  place  with  the  leaders  of  all  the 
Churches  in  this  land  whose  lives  move  toward 
a  Ministry  of  Reconciliation. 

This  ministry  demands  the  Reconciliation  of 
the  old  truths  with  the  new  light.  It  involves 
the  presentation  of  the  old  Gospel  in  har- 
mony with  the  enlarged  and  enlarging  knowl- 
edge of  the  new  day  which  is  upon  us.  With- 
out it,  there  can  be  no  reconciliation  of  Chris- 
tian with  Christian,  of  those,  that  is  to  say, 
who  have  received  the  new  knowledge  with 
those  who  fear  it  because  they  know  nothing 
about  it.  It  is  a  work  which  calls  for  delicacy 
of  touch,  large  sympathy,  continuous  study, 
and  unfailing  faith.  It  is  not  easy  work ;  but 
it  must  be  done.  Without  it  there  can  be  no 
reconciliation  of  the  educated  man  outside  all 
religious  organizations  with  the  Church  of  his 

12 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

fathers.  The  hope  of  saving  religion  in  our 
century  turns  upon  the  abihty  and  wilHngness 
of  the  Church — in  the  first  place  of  the  pul- 
pit and  in  the  second  of  the  pew — to  re-state 
its  dogmas,  re-cast  its  formularies,  and  re- 
issue its  message  to  the  world  in  agreement 
with  the  progressive  revelation  in  history  and 
in  science  which  God  has  given  and  which  He 
still  gives,  and  in  reliance  upon  the  ever-active 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  have  to 
adopt  and  make  our  own  the  methods  and  as- 
sured results  of  reverent  Biblical  scholarship. 
We  shall  have  our  reward.  To  that  combina- 
tion of  large  historical  knowledge  with  deep 
analytical  insight  and  high  religious  feeling 
of  which  modern  scholarship  justly  boasts,  we 
owe  the  re-discovery  of  the  Bible.  From  its 
pages,  rich  with  the  history  of  God's  dealing 
with  men,  the  Puritan  of  England,  the  Cove- 
nanter of  Scotland,  and  your  own  great  Pil- 
grims, drew  their  mighty  confidence  in  the 
Lord  of  Hosts.  Yet  to  our  shame  be  it  said, 
13 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

for  many  a  modern  man  and  woman  it  has  lost 
its  charm.  Let  us  study  the  Bible  and  we  shall 
love  it.  Fogs  of  deadly  dullness  which  hang 
about  it  in  the  gloomy  sanctuaries  of  Bibliola- 
try  will  be  swept  away,  and  it  will  live  again. 
It  will  stand,  not  only  as  the  glowing  record 
of  the  revelation  of  God  to  a  peculiar  and  not- 
able people,  but  as,  when  all  is  said  and  done, 
the  freshest,  newest,  truest  book  in  all  the 
world.  We  shall  be  sure  that  its  messages  are 
inspired,  not  because  past  ages  have  told  us 
so,  but  because  they  inspire  us,  because  they 
find  us,  find  us  in  the  deepest  depths  of  our 
being,  and  reveal  Christ  to  men. 

This,  too,  proclaims  the  right  attitude  of 
Christianity  to  Science.  I  may  not  be  able  to 
assimilate  and  present  to  you  from  time  to 
time  the  fruits  of  modern  scientific  research, 
as  I  hope  to  present  those  of  Biblical  study. 
But  that  will  not  be  because  of  any  fear  of 
Science.  The  claims  of  a  busy  pastorate  and 
14 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

of  a  wide  philanthropy  excuse  to  the  preacher 
defects  of  scientific  training.  He  does  not 
need  to  pretend  that  he  has  mastered  any 
physical  science  in  the  sense  in  which  he  ought 
to  profess  that  he  has  understood  his  Bible. 
But  let  there  be  no  mistake  as  to  the  Christian 
attitude.  It  is  not  one  of  tolerance,  still  less 
of  fear.  It  is  one  of  sympathy,  gratitude, 
and  hope.  Every  kingdom  that  science  has 
made  or  is  making  its  own,  Christianity  claims 
for  Him  who  is  Lord  of  All.  Let  astronomer 
or  chemist  or  biologist  open  world  on  world  to 
our  gaze,  and  I  have  no  fear  for  the  Gospel 
of  Calvary  and  of  the  Resurrection  Morning. 
I  will  set  no  bounds  to  the  limits  of  man's 
knowledge.  I  do  not  know  to  what  man  may 
attain.  Neither  will  I  seek  to  circumscribe  the 
legitimate  sphere  of  his  inquiry.  I  refuse  to 
draw  a  ring-fence  round  certain  aspects  of 
man's  life,  and  declare  them  sacro-sanct,  say- 
ing to  the  philosopher,  "Hitherto  shalt  thou 
come  and  no  farther."  Let  him  push  his  in- 
IS 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

vestigations  beyond,  far  beyond,  the  furthest 
outposts  of  all  that  we  conceive  to-day,  and 
probe  into  the  soul  of  man — when  he  can  find 
it.  The  conviction  of  my  hfe  is  that  the 
higher  our  knowledge  mounts  the  deeper  will 
be  our  faith  in  God.  The  little  knowledge 
inclines  our  hearts  to  doubt :  the  fuller  brings 
us  back  to  Him.  Whoso  is  afraid  of  truth 
does  not  believe  in  God. 

This  appeal,  I  remind  you  once  more,  is 
addressed  to  Christian  people.  Be  ye  recon- 
ciled with  God.  And  the  Ministry  of  Recon- 
ciliation must  beseech  you:  Reconcile  your 
business  with  God,  your  commerce,  your  whole 
system  of  economics,  your  politics,  the  prin- 
ciples which  dominate  your  State  and  Federal 
policies,  and  the  laws  by  which  you  live !  Let 
these  be  reconciled  with  God. 

Such  a  ministry  is  searching.    It  must  ask 

you  questions,  and  it  must  so  force  them  in 

upon  your  soul  with  every  argument,  threat, 
i6 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

and  promise,  with  every  warning  of  God's 
justice  and  all  the  wooing  of  His  love,  that 
you  cannot  get  away  from  them — cannot 
silence  the  questioner  by  killing  the  preacher, 
because  insurgent  conscience  is  voicing  them 
again,  and  it  you  cannot  "down"  by  any  de- 
vice you  have  discovered  yet !  No :  that  is  a 
task  beyond  you!  And  these  questions  must 
burn  into  your  souls: 

Can  you  reconcile  your  business  with  God? 
Was  yesterday's  "deal"  in  accordance  with 
His  mind?  Will  your  books  stand  a  heavenly 
audit?  In  your  office  dare  you  put  up  the 
prayer — that  is  to  say,  should  you  dare  if 
you  had  any  realising  belief  in  the  efficacy  of 
prayer — "Abide  with  me ;  come  not  to  sojourn 
but  abide  with  me"  ?  Will  you  reconcile  your 
business  methods  with  God  ?  A  ministry  which 
does  not  force  these  questions  home  is  sawdust 
and  chaff. 

17 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

Then  broaden  your  view.  The  whole  round 
of  hfe  must  be  reconciled  with  God.  In  the 
helpful  ministry  of  loving  deeds,  which  out- 
live all  the  forms  and  dresses  of  human 
thought  as  the  everlasting  hills  outlive  the 
mists  of  the  morning,  the  Christian  Church  in- 
carnates the  spirit  of  her  Risen  Lord.  It  has 
become  so  clear  that  not  the  dullest  can  miss  it, 
that  the  Church  which  has  nothing  to  say  to 
social  problems  has  in  our  day  no  claim  to 
existence.  Soon,  if  it  be  not  laughed  off  the 
face  of  the  earth,  it  will  remain  only  as  the 
house  founded  on  the  sand,  the  refuge  of  the 
idler,  the  self-seeker,  and  the  coward,  but  a 
refuge  which  will  fail  them  when  the  storms 
that  are  gathering  break  upon  it.  Religion 
is  not  a  thing  of  the  stars  but  of  the  streets. 
The  Gospel  for  the  Day  is  a  Gospel  of  Social 
Service;  the  Gospel  of  the  Golden  Rule  and 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  the  Gospel  of  Him 
who  was  rich  and  for  our  sake  became  poor; 

the  Gospel  whose  supreme  expression  is  Cal- 
i8 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

vary  and  the  Cross.  It  will  not  suffice  that 
we  should  dream  noble  deeds,  but  do  them, 
and  that  all  day  long,  nor  yet  that  we  should 
look  for  a  heaven  in  the  future  for  ourselves 
if  we  have  not,  at  least,  tried  to  make  a  heaven 
in  the  present  for  our  fellows.  The  sin  of 
doing  nothing  is  the  deadliest  of  the  seven 
deadly  sins.  We  are  here  to  save  men.  Man 
cannot  be  saved  alone.  The  saved  man  must 
save  men.  The  City  must  be  saved.  The 
State  must  be  saved.  The  Nation  must  be 
saved.  We  are  here  to  claim  the  world  of  poli- 
tics as  Christ's  world,  cleanse  political  life  of 
its  self-seeking,  its  practical  atheism  and  cor- 
ruption, and  change  our  human  society  into  a 
Kingdom  of  God.  Politics  for  Israel,  says 
Isaiah  of  Jerusalem:  it  is  to  make  the  city  a 
centre  of  teaching  and  healing  until  all  the 
nations  say,  "Come  ye  and  let  us  walk  in  the 
light  of  the  Lord."  "Politics  for  English- 
men," said  John  Milton;  "it  is  to  teach  the 
nations  how  to  live."  And  politics  for 
19 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

America?  You  have  not  forgotten  your  own 
Whittier  in  one  of  his  most  inspired  hours — 

*'  Thy  lesson  all  the  world  shall  leam. 
The  nations  at  thy  feet  shall  sit: 
Earth's  farthest  mountain  tops  shall  bum 
With  watch-fires  at  thine  own  upUt." 

Do  you  want  to  realize  this?  Will  you  try? 
Then  you,  too,  have  entered  upon  a  Ministry 
of  Reconciliation,  and  as  ambassadors  on  be- 
half of  Christ,  as  though  God  were  entreating 
by  us,  together  we  will  say  to  our  world,  "We 
beseech  you,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." 

To  this  ministry  no  limits  can  be  set.  Its 
parish  is  the  whole  wide  world  of  men.  It 
embraces  the  highest  and  the  lowest  in  its  un- 
measured scope.  But  there  is  one  precise  and 
specific  application  of  it  to  which  no  American 
who  loves  his  country,  no  man  or  woman  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  who  cares 
for  his  country's  flag  and  his  country's  honor, 
her  fame  and  her  future,  can  afford  to  be  in- 
different.    It  is  not  for  me  to  lecture  you 

20 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

about  American  conditions.  It  is  for  me  to 
learn  from  what  they  are.  But  the  most 
thoughtless  onlooker  from  the  old  world  who 
has  ever  read  a  page  of  history  knows  that,  in 
the  rush  to  your  shores  of  millions  upon  mil- 
lions of  the  European  peoples,  you  are  con- 
fronted by  a  problem  such  as  no  nation  has 
ever  yet  had  to  solve  since  history  began.  I 
read  the  figures  which  set  this  problem  visibly 
before  the  eyes  of  men,  and  I  am  lost  in 
amazement.  Then,  as  the  facts  behind  the 
figures  begin  to  take  shape  and  substance,  my 
brain  reels  before  their  immensity.  You  know 
what  races  of  the  old  world  are  pouring  them- 
selves into  this  country.  You  know  what  col- 
onies of  people,  separated  from  yourselves  by 
thought,  by  feeling,  by  tradition,  by  religion, 
by  language,  are  established  within  your  city 
boundaries  and  in  all  the  great  cities  of  the 
land.  This  is  an  ethnic  question,  a  race  ques- 
tion. It  is  a  question  as  to  the  Mnd  of  peo- 
ple the  American  people  is  to  become.    It  is 

21 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

a  question  whether  the  primal  American  stock 
is  to  be  vitiated  by  the  inter-permeation  of  an 
inferior  race.  It  is  something  still  nearer:  it 
is  a  national  question,  a  question  of  political 
equilibrium,  of  the  stability  of  Social  Order 
and  the  Sovereignty  of  Law.  For  you  know 
from  what  strata  of  society  in  the  European 
countries  the  mass  of  these  immigrants  are 
now  being  drawn.  And  as  the  more  restless 
and  enterprising  amongst  them  spread  over 
the  country,  you  know  how,  delivered  from 
the  despotisms  of  the  old  lands,  some  of  them 
are  ready  to  abuse  the  liberty  of  this,  or,  on 
the  other  hand,  fall  a  prey  to  shameless  spirits 
who  would  make  their  traffic  out  of  their  coun- 
try's loss.  And  this  you  will  agree,  that  the 
man  who  for  selfish  ends  would  set  flame  to 
the  ingratitude,  discontent,  and  envy,  to  the 
slumbering  anarchic  passions  of  these  unde- 
veloped soul,  would  be  a  traitor  to  the  Re- 
public and  an  enemy  of  the  human  race.  And 
If  you  feel  that,  as  you  must,  then,  to  the  de- 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

gree  in  which  your  patriotism  is  real,  will  the 
call  of  Christianity  wake  every  generous  im- 
pulse of  your  heart.  For  while  the  possibili- 
ties of  legislative  action  must  never  be  lost 
sight  of,  the  deepest  truth  of  all  is  this,  that 
the  best  Christian  is  the  best  citizen,  and  that 
the  surest  way,  the  quickest  way,  the  most 
economical  and  the  most  permanent  way  of 
making  of  these  people  good  Americans  and 
good  patriots  is  to  make  them  good  Chris- 
tians. To  you — to  you  and  me  now — and  to 
men  and  women  like  us,  is  entrusted  the  solemn 
responsibility  and  the  splendid  privilege.  We 
have  to  change  the  mob  into  a  commonwealth, 
the  proletariat  into  a  democracy.  We  have  to 
evangelise  the  commonwealth  and  Christian- 
ise the  democracy.  And  these  untrained,  un- 
disciplined, politically  dangerous  millions  we 
have  to  win  for  Christ. 

You  may  think  that  it  is  not  possible  for  me 
to  see  this  as  you  see  it.     But  you  must  let 
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A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

me  answer  that  if  you  could  see  it  as  I  see  it — 
the  marvellous  opportunity,  the  tremendous 
duty,  the  far-shining  glory  which  success  in 
such  work  would  bring — you  would  feel  that 
little  else  was  worth  living  for,  while  this,  this 
is  worth  living  and  worth  dying  for,  this  God- 
given,  God-inspired  toil  to  bring  the  nation  to 
the  feet  of  Christ.  This  Ministry  of  Recon- 
ciliation is  committed  to  us.  We  must  go  to 
the  people,  who  as  yet  are  no  people,  and  as 
ambassadors  on  behalf  of  Christ,  as  though 
God  were  entreating  by  us,  we  must  say,  Be 
ye  reconciled  to  God ! 

And  now  the  great  question  arises :  By  what 
power  may  the  follower  of  Christ  hope  to  ac- 
complish this  glorious  ministry  ?  By  the  power 
of  the  living  God — there  is  no  other.  By  the 
manifestation  of  the  God  who  was  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself.  By  the 
power  of  His  spirit  freely  poured  out  on  those 

who  seek  to  draw  near  to  Him.    The  method 
24 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

of  Jesus  was  sublime  in  its  simplicity.  Mil- 
lions of  sermons  have  been  preached,  whole 
libraries  have  been  written,  to  explain  the  plan 
of  salvation.  Yet  a  sentence  can  expound  it. 
Jesus  believed  that  men  could  be  drawn  to  eacK 
other  and  drawn  to  God  if  they  were  first 
drawn  to  Himself.  Let  a  man  form  a  warm, 
personal,  intimate,  loving  attachment  for 
Jesus  Christ,  and  there  is  a  new  creation.  God 
is  different:  the  world  is  different:  men  are 
different:  and  he  himself  is  so  different  that 
the  best  way  of  describing  it  is  to  say  that  he 
has  been  born  again.  It  is  because  this  is  so 
true  in  human  experience,  the  world  over,  age 
by  age,  that  I  have  come  to  preach  Christ  to 
you,  and  declare  that,  amid  all  changes  of 
theological  expression,  God's  deepest  truth  is 
stated  in  the  familiar  line. 

Speak  we  of  morals,  O  Thou  Bleeding  Lamb — 
The  true  morality  is  love  of  Theel 

Ideas  are  cold,  repelling.    We  assent  to 
them.    Who  could  become  impassioned  by  an 
25 


A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

idea?  But  when  ideas  take  flesh  and  dwell 
amongst  us,  when  they  touch  us  with  warm 
responsive  hands,  when  they  fold  us  in  strong 
protecting  arms,  when  they  press  us  to  glow- 
ing, palpitating  breasts,  we  are  theirs — body, 
soul,  and  spirit.  The  idea  of  God  is  full  of 
awe.  It  dominates  us,  throws  us  prostrate  be- 
fore its  unspeakable  majesty.  But  God  in 
Christ :  that  is  different !  He  is  the  Desire  of 
all  Nations,  the  Saviour  of  the  World,  the 
Hope  of  the  Race.  It  is  our  boast,  our  pride, 
our  glory  to  confess  Him  among  men.  United 
with  Him,  nothing  that  is  human  is  alien  from 
us.  Reconciled  with  God  through  Him  we 
seek  to  be  reconciled  with  all  God's  children 
everywhere.  One  with  Him,  we  are  one  with 
all  of  God  there  is  above  us  and  one  with  all 
men  here  below.  And  it  is  because  I  believe 
that  the  arms  once  outstretched  on  Calvary's 
Cross  of  pain  and  shame  are  now  flung  wide 
to  embrace  in  one  brotherhood  men  of  every 

race  and  name  and  colour,  that  I  shall  preach 
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A  MINISTRY  of  RECONCILIATION 

Christ  to  you,  Christ  crucified,  Christ  risen, 
Christ  glorified,  Christ  living,  loving,  reign- 
ing, and,  in  the  pursuit  of  a  Ministry  of 
Reconciliation,  as  though  God  were  entreating 
by  me,  shall  beseech  you,  on  behalf  of  Christ, 
Be  ye  reconciled  with  God. 


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0883YB 

LBC 

09-lB-04.T?lRDI 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


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